#Post-Exposure Prophylaxis

[macgyvermedical]

Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)

I've done a post about this before, but I have more info now and I saw a cool post about HIV PEP that got me thinking about making another post.

The following are some of the diseases that you can get medication/vaccination for after getting exposed:

COVID-19: We used to have PEP for this, but it stopped being effective as the virus evolved. Another drug is coming on the market (currently in phase 3 trials) called Ensitrelvir that shows some promise.

Rabies: Rabies immunoglobulin (immunoglobulin is a drug made from antibodies), followed by the rabies vaccine series.

Tetanus: Assuming a standard vaccine series earlier in life, a single vaccine soon after a dirty wound will prevent tetanus. If no standard vaccine series, the patient needs tetanus immunoglobulin too.

HIV: This is probably the most famous PEP. It's essentially a 28-day course of the same antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV. Usually, this is a 28-day course of three antiretrovirals: emtricitabine, tenofovir, and either dolutegravir or raltegravir.

Hepatitis A: Dose of hepatitis A vaccine will work for most people. High risk individuals over the age of 40 might need human immunoglobulin as well as a vaccine dose.

Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B vaccine is weird, and a lot of people don't respond to it. If the person has titers (a blood test) that says they responded to the original series of Hep B, all they need is a booster. If they are in the process of getting vaccinated or are a known non-responder to the vaccine, they need both Hep B immunoglobulin and the vaccine.

Anthrax: A 60-day course of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.

Lyme Disease: A single 200mg dose of the antibiotic doxycycline given within 3 days of a high risk tick bite (probably stayed attached for more than 36 hours).

Mpox (or any pox virus): Smallpox vaccine (we still have these because omg would smallpox escaping containment be BAD) given within 4 days to prevent, 14 days to lessen the severity.

Measles: EITHER an MMR or MMRV vaccine dose within 72 hours, OR a course of human immunoglobulin within 6 days. Can't do both. They cancel each other out.

Chickenpox: Not, actually, a pox virus. So either the MMRV or a varicella vaccine dose will work.

Leprosy: A single dose of the antibiotic rfampicin.

Bacterial STIs: A single dose of 200mg of the antibiotic doxycycline.

Pertussis: A course of one of a variety of different antibiotics including azithromycin.

[molovesbooks]

thank you, tumblr dad!

ask a nurse/doctor or anyone else who works in hospitals/healthcare places if you need more info on this! (ideally even the janitors and cleaning staff should know some stuff, at least that's what we do in my hospital in Europe)

also, PrEP and PEP are definitely safe, but the side effects can be pretty severe, just be warned. definitely, definitely take them if you are or think you might be in any way at risk (some insurance companies in multiple European countries will cover the cost or at least a big part of it), but have your healthcare provider or a trusted internet source explain the entire thing to you in detail! our tumblr dad gave a great comprehensive overview, but please do some more research if any of it applied to you!

If you can, it's definitely worth looking at the product monograph of whatever you're being prescribed (or even the instruction leaflet), but if you're struggling with that for any reason, ask a trusted person in your life to look over it with you. I've had enough doctors not tell me everything I thought relevant.

(If you want, you can ask me too)

My dear lgbt+ kids,

Let's talk about PrEP and PEP.

PrEP is short for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It's a safe* and highly effective medicine (pills or shots) you can take to reduce your chances of getting HIV. When taken as prescribed, it reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% and the risk of getting it from drug injection by at least 74% (Source)

PrEP may be the right choice for you if you have an ongoing risk of HIV exposure. For example, if you:

have frequently changing sexual partners, or

are a sex worker, or

do not consistently use condoms, or

have an HIV-positive partner, or

have been diagnosed with another sexually transmitted disease, or

have used multiple courses of PEP (see below), or

inject drugs and share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment (for example, cookers).

Even if none of these apply to you, PrEP could still be helpful for you - talk to a healthcare professional about your individual situation.

Some more important info:

Teenagers can take PrEP if they are at risk!

Before beginning PrEP, you must take a test to make sure you are currently HIV-negative.

PrEP takes some time to work (about 7 days for anal sex, about 21 days for vaginal sex or drug use).

It's not the right choice if you think you may already have been exposed to HIV - if you think you have been exposed within the last 72 hours, ask for PEP right away.

PrEP is much less effective when not taken as prescribed.

PEP is short for post-exposure prophylaxis. It's medicine for emergency situations. You can take it after possible exposure to HIV (e.g if a condom broke or after sexual assault). It's safe* and highly effective but only if taken within 72 hours of exposure - when it comes to PEP, every hour counts! Don't wait, talk right away to a health care provider, an emergency room doctor, or an urgent care provider.

PEP is not a substitute for condoms and doesn't provide ongoing protection.

*While they are safe, PrEP and PEP can have side effects (such as nausea). In almost all cases, these side effects aren’t life-threatening. They usually go away on their own or can be easily treated. Talk to a healthcare professional if you are concerned about side effects.

With all my love,

Your Tumblr Dad

[coachcatasha]

Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a short course of HIV medicines taken very soon after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent the virus from taking hold in your body. PEP is critical in the case of accidental exposure to the virus. If taken within 72 hours (3 days), the antiretroviral medication can stop HIV in its tracks. Immediate attention ensures the best chance of combating the virus, so…

[taalhealthcare03]

https://taalhealthcare.com/hiv-service/pep-post-exposure-prophylaxis/

[ms-demeanor]

I've been reading so much about rabies and cats and there are so few cat owners who keep their cats up to date on rabies vaccinations and buds please keep your kitty's jabs up-to-date and please please please keep your cats inside and please treat any cat with an unknown vaccination history as a wild animal and don't try to touch it or pet it or catch it.

The most recent survivor of the Milwaukee protocol is an 8 year old girl who contacted rabies through scratches from feral cats that lived in a colony at her school.

Don't touch strange cats even if they're friendly, and teach your kids not to touch strange cats either. (For that matter teach your kids not to touch strange dogs either, but decades of stray eradication and mandatory vaccines means that the US is one of the few places in the world where cats are more likely to be rabid than dogs)

Also did you know that there's one case of transplant-acquired rabies recorded in the US? The recipient got a kidney from a donor who died in an accident and nobody was aware the donor had rabies. The recipient died of rabies, which is a bit of an extreme flavor of graft failure if you ask me. Terrifying!

Anyway. If you, too, want to have nightmares about rabies you can search my website (www.ms-demeanor.com) for "keep your fucking cat indoors" and scroll to the section on rabies and read some nightmare fuel (like the case report on the family that moved across 3 states with their 13 barn cats, unaware that one was incubating rabies).

Did you know that in 1994, 665 people in New Hampshire had to be given post exposure prophylaxis for rabies because of one infected kitten that had contact with a racoon before being brought to a pet store?

The only way animals are tested for rabies is to examine their brain tissue. The animal is killed in order to do this. If your pet is exposed to rabies they stand a much, much, much better chance of being quarantined instead of being euthanized for testing if you have kept their vaccinations current.

Please keep your pets' vaccinations up to date, and please keep your cat indoors. There's a risk of exposure even for indoor cats, so make sure they've got their shots.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

wait, what's the difference between hpv and hiv and aids? i thought hiv was just aids and hpv was like. another term for hiv please 😭

okay. before I do this. I do want to remind everyone that this kind of info is incredibly easy to seek for yourself, with the help of simple search times like "what is hpv" or "hiv wikipedia," and I do really encourage doing that! learning how to seek out information is an important skill!

but god I am going to do this anyway, here we go.

HPV is human papillomavirus, an extremely common viral infection that virtually every sexually active person will contract at some point in their life. there are nearly 200 stains of HPV, nearly all of which are harmless, but there are 2 that can (but don't always) cause genital warts and 13 that can (but don't always) cause cancers of the cervix, anus, vagina, vulva, penis, and throat. roughly 90% of cases of HPV clear up and go away on their own within two years of contraction without ever causing any health problems; the majority of people who have it will be asymptomatic the entire time and may never know they have it.

HIV is human immunodeficiency virus, a virus that attacks and drastically weakens the immune system when untreated. it is considered an STI but is not spread exclusively through sexual contact, as it can also be transmitted via unclean syringes shared between people as well as from parents to children via childbirth or breastfeeding. while HIV can be fatal, usually when it develops into AIDS, as I posted about earlier tonight proper medicine and management can allow people with HIV can live full, healthy lives and even completely negate their risk of transmitting HIV.

it's also important to discuss PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which can be taken by people who do not have HIV to drastically reduce their risk of contracting it, and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) which can be taken for 28 days starting up to 72 hours after potential exposure to HIV to greatly reduce the risk of the virus taking hold.

AIDS is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS develops when HIV is left untreated and progresses over years, when the immune system has been severely depleted. at this point people are very prone to what are known as "opportunistic" infections and cancers, further health complications that their immune system is unable to fight off as it ordinarily would. people with AIDS often deal with a state of constant fatigue, fever, chills, weakness, inflammation, and weight loss.

so, you know. slightly different things!

[mixelation]

there's a long post on my dash about rabies and i'm absolutely STUNNED how much misinfo it contains. like:

"rabies gives raccoons glowing green eyes. isn't that spooky" this is supposedly a symptom of the canine distemper virus in raccoons, although i could not find a real source for this or why it would happen. distemper cannot spread to humans

"let me tell you this horrific story of getting the rabies vaccine" rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment in the US consists of wound washing, administering human rabies immune globulin (HRIG - basically antibodies to help you start fighting rabies right away; not given if you've been vaccinated before), and then a series of shots in your arm across multiple days (how many depends on if you've been vaccinated before and if you're immunosuppressed). exact protocol may vary across countries. the "many shots in your stomach" protocol is no longer in use in the US afaik. it's not fun, so don't go out and handle wild/stray animals willy-nilly because "oh I can just get the vaccine." but most educational materials i've seen that aren't just "people on tumblr running their mouths*" stress that it's likely not as bad as you think. don't hesitate from getting one if you think you might have been exposed *yes i am aware *i* am a person on tumblr running my mouth

The Posts are right about the insane mortality rate in humans. rabies is fatal if not treated right away.

in the US humans are most likely to get rabies from bats because their bites are hard to notice so people don't seek treatment. NEVER handle a bat without gloves. if you accidentally touch a bat or find you've been in a room with one without your knowledge and can't guarantee it didn't interact with you (if you were asleep, for example), i highly suggest asking a medical professional for guidance.

australia doesn't have rabies but y'all have australian bat lyssavirus, which is related to rabies and you should probably be aware of. just don't handle bats

i'm not gonna hunt down a citation for this right now, but iirc your PETS are most likely to get rabies from a raccoon. vaccine them. your pets can also get all sorts of horrific diseases from raccoons and other wild animals, like the aforementioned distemper. reduce your pet's risk of interacting with unknown wild animals.

"we had to ultra sterilize the container this rabid raccoon came in bc rabies" and "i have to wash myself before handling my unvaccinated pet because of rabies" you can't get rabies from casual touch, such as handling objects that also came into contact with a rabid animal (x). most exposures are from bites or, more rarely, scratches. you can also get it from handling spinal fluid or organs of infected animals or aerosolized virus in a lab, but my god you'd probably be doing these things professionally and hopefully already be vaccinated as an at-risk worker. i do not suggest handling unknown dead animals without PPE. however, of note-- animals can carry all sorts of OTHER nasty diseases you could transmit to your pet via casual touch/shared surfaces. i'm not saying don't clean things. i'm saying you're not gonna spread RABIES this way without some additional mad scientist moves

the US has a very low incidence of rabies. still don't handle wild animals. rabies IS fatal so you don't want to risk it. also we have like. endemic plague and leprosy and all sorts of nasty things

in some countries the main rabies risk is from stray dogs. don't play with stray dogs

[covid-safer-hotties]

Reference saved in our archive

62% of responding EU's nations accept organs for transplants from covid-positive donors with ongoing acute symptoms. A new route for blood-borne illness going unchecked?

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infection represents a new challenge for solid organ transplantation (SOT) with evolving recommendations. A cross-sectional survey was performed (February–June 2024) to describe practices among Member States of the Council of Europe (COE) on the use of organs from deceased donors with resolved or active SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, 32 out of 47 Member States with a transplant program participated in the study. Four (12.5%) countries did not use organs from deceased donors either with resolved or with active SARS-CoV-2 infection and 8 (25%) countries accepted organs only from deceased donors with resolved SARS-CoV-2 infection. Donor evaluation for SARS-CoV-2 included universal screening with standard PCR testing on respiratory specimens generally (61.4%) performed within 24 h prior to organ recovery. Further microbiological, immunological and radiological investigations varied. Most waitlisted patients receiving organs from a deceased donor with active (94.5%) or resolved (61.5%) SARS-CoV-2 infection were preferred to have natural, vaccine-induced or hybrid SARS-CoV-2 immunity. Most countries did not require recipients to undergo specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 treatment as pre-exposure (0%), post-exposure prophylaxis (15.4%) or modification of immunosuppression regimen (24%). This study highlights similarities and heterogeneities in the management of SARS-CoV-2 positive donors between COE countries, and a potential to safely expand donors’ pool.

[kitsuneheart]

"On the Courtship of Hedgehogs" chapter 2 notes

Read chapter 2 here!

*****

Do not take this to mean you should view friendships as a "first step" to a relationship. 

Jules and Bernie say fuck your Friendzone bullshit.

*****

many hedgehogs—your authors included—begin flirting months or years before they pair up

There’s this adorable moment in Archie Sonic #76 when Jules recognizes Bernie as “that girl I used to debate against in school,” and I had to reference it here.

*****

Her clients chose the store, and she picked up a little extra shopping on the way.

Not mentioned in the story yet, but there is not a single matching plate or piece of silverware at Rouge and Shadow’s place. It’s all stolen, one piece at a time, just to ruin someone’s perfect place settings.

*****

Amy's eyes flicked to the book, then back to Rouge. "Eh, I watched the movies. Good homo-romantic pining, but no payoff."

Nerdy readers might have figured out that what Rouge stole was a signed first edition of “The Fellowship of the Ring.” A full signed LOTR trilogy was sold at auction in 2015 for £287,700. Rouge stole just one for the giggles.

*****

"Now, let's not assume it's because he's focused on Shadow," Rouge reassured, ripping the cork from her already-open bottle and taking a direct swig from the Chateau Lafite before slamming it back down. 

Depending on which vintage Rouge stole, this bottle of wine could be worth around $230,000.

*****

Bless that girl for bringing book five of the Solarian Chronicles, it was the one Rouge had been missing from her own reader. 

The Solarian Chronicles are a reference to the 2006 Sonic game.

*****

"He called me a porcupine!" Sonic pushed up to his knees, gesturing down his body. "Do I look like a porcupine to you!?"

A human called me a POSSUM. I am NOT a POSSUM!

*****

A shiver went up the blue hedgehog's back, skin bunching, fur and quills rippling under Shadow's touch.

Ever seen videos of what a hairless cat’s back does when you tough it? That’s what’s happening to Sonic.

*****

Ask Rouge to give you brushies or something.

The author wishes to suggest the opposite. 

That said....

*****

"Well," Shadow mused, flicking a twig into the distance, "if you've been noticing my backside, then you admit you're falling behind."

Sonic chuffed. "Or maybe I'm just there for the view."

This was one of those moments when the characters decided to just have their own little conversation in my head, and I was just frantically writing down what they said.

*****

And Stone, stand-up guy that he was (indebted to Sonic and his family's testimony after the whole metal knockoff thing as he was),

In my idea for the Metal Sonic story, Stone joins the team after he looks at some remains of Metal Sonic and recognizes parts inspired by Robotnik’s work, but clearly just ripping it off. Stone is Not Pleased at the abuse of Ivo’s legacy, and manages to do enough to solve the problem that GUN allows him to go back to the Mean Bean, but under a very strict Mobian-enforced house arrest. Stone would certainly betray the trust placed in him if he discovered some method of bringing the Doctor back, but, as of yet, that hasn’t happened.

*****

That was the same look they shared before Maddie restricted the three semi-animal kids to the property, back during the rabies scare three years ago. 

I spend more time than is healthy wondering how Maddie handles the Mobians’ medical care. Earth foxes can be given a rabies vaccine, but would it be safe to give Tails? Could post-exposure prophylaxis stop the spread of the sickness in the kids? Can Mobians even GET rabies? For this disease, she would definitely play it safe.

*****

I’ll become a real sexpert!

Travis insists he’s a “sexpert,” but if there’s a degree on his wall, I haven’t seen it.

*****

Wow, did Mobians go to Heaven?

All Dog Mobians do.

*****

"Bark bark!" Ozzy replied. <You cut off my balls! Personally!>

Like...she probably did. It’s a routine procedure. There’s no ethical standard for vets that says they can’t treat their own animals, unlike human doctors and their families. She probably tossed her puppy’s puppies right in the garbage.

[mielpetite]

WIP Wednesday

Aziraphale might be having a very very good day 😂

This frame was one of my faves ever in the sketch and lineart stage, but the painting is shaky perhaps. Giving myself a pass because long story short I’m in the middle of post exposure rabies prophylaxis and it’s not fun and I do not feel my best. Thankfully I can draw again, physically, but I’ve still got a massive headache and brain fog I’m trying to shake.

[self-chiller]

"but but but we EVOLVED to be scared of and repulsed by and avoid people who act weird--" to whatever extent we did, that was about rabies (contagious! deadly! marked by acting weird! The other things that cause people to act weird are sometimes deadly - to the affected person - but they aren't contagious). The rest is all conditioning, socially reinforced prejudice, etc. do we have to worry about rabies anymore? not so much. We have pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis for that now and most of us don't come into contact with wild animals on a regular basis. This is one of those things you will have to use your logical brain about. Yes, every time.

[mariacallous]

Outside the Serbian capital, LGBTQ+ activists are campaigning for more tolerance and better healthcare access and against discrimination – shadowed by the constant threat of violence.

“Novi Sad has a reputation in the country as an alternative and open-minded city, but all of us who grew up in Novi Sad have a different experience,” says Aleksa Savic, executive director of the LGBTQ+ activist group Izadji (Come Out), which operates in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad.

LGBTQ+ people growing up in Serbia often suffer bullying in schools, discrimination in the world of sport, and insults and violent attacks in public spaces. As far as homophobic prejudice is concerned, Novi Sad isn’t much different from the capital Belgrade or other cities, according to Savic.

Last week’s Novi Sad Pride Week, which Savic and Izadji were involved in organising, came less than two weeks after a lit flare was thrown from a neighbouring yard at participants in a drag performance in the city on May 2. Because of the attack, the Pride Week were held under increased police security.

This was the first attack on the Novi Sad event since it was first held in 2019. Belgrade Pride has been attacked several times over the years; the annual event still goes ahead, but is held under strict police guard.

Savic thinks that the incident in Novi Sad is “indicative” of the environment in Serbia, where the authorities have been accused of fostering a culture of violence and tolerating thuggish behaviour and attacks on activists.

“We believe it’s connected to the current socio-political context,” he said. “There’s a constant justification of violence and a lack of punishment in this country. That sends a message to perpetrators that they won’t face consequences and it encourages them.”

‘We are citizens too’

The defiant slogan of this year’s Novi Sad Pride Week was “Ostajem” (“I’m Staying”). As well as discussions about politics, health and LGBTQ+ art and culture, there were drag shows, a ‘queer bazaar’ and a communal screening of the Eurovision Song Contest final.

The organisers also wanted to show support for mass protests that erupted in November 2024 in Serbia, led by students and sparked by an infrastructure collapse at Novi Sad railway station left 16 people dead, which many blamed on corruption and official negligence.

“We are citizens of Novi Sad too, and the fatalities affected us too, and it’s important to us that those responsible for the murder are held accountable,” said Savic.

“We want to live in a state governed by the rule of law, because just as the institutions failed here [over the station disaster], they have also failed in the lives of LGBTI people, since we still don’t have a law on same-sex partnerships or gender identity,” he added. He argued that state institutions often fail to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to discrimination and violence.

The Pride Week organisers are calling for improvements to healthcare services for transgender people, and a swift and appropriate state response to hate speech and hate-motivated crimes against LGBTQ+ people. 

Other demands include appointing liaison officers for the LGBTQ+ community in police stations in the wider Novi Sad area, introducing education in Novi Sad’s schools on sexual orientation and gender identity, and providing free pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) medicines for HIV prevention.

The Izadji group has also launched a petition calling for the appointment of a team for transgender issues – psychiatrists, endocrinologists and surgeons – at the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, the major health clinic in the region. At the moment in Serbia, such a team exists only in Belgrade.

“That team is responsible for the whole of Serbia, which, given the capacity, isn’t enough to cover everyone who needs this process,” Savic argued, adding that it’s also complicated and expensive for people to travel to Belgrade for all their appointments.

“We’re talking about people who are often heavily discriminated against in the job market. They don’t have a job and can’t get one,” he pointed out.

Savic said that the Serbian state leadership’s friendly cooperation with states where LGBTQ+ people are oppressed is concerning. “Of course, we’re worried that something like that could happen here as well, because there’s a constant balancing act,” he said.

“On one hand, the state pretends to be working on European values, while on the other, we see cooperation with countries and global powers that are much more right-wing-oriented, where human rights are at the very bottom of the agenda.”

[madlori]

But “post-exposure prophylaxis and monitoring” sounds boring.

It does. They could just say "treatment?" I mean that's the typical word used in reality.

[osokasstuff]

in relation to the last reblog, some things about HIV. (it's not really a proper educational post (tm) just some facts and misconceptions that i wanna bring so please do your own research if you're able).

HIV is transmitted through blood and sex.

HIV is NOT transmitted through air, saliva, common dishes, household items, etc.

PrEP = pre-exposure prophylaxis. treatment that you get if you regularly participate in risky activities to prevent getting HIV. if you regularly participate in risky activities (share syringes with someone, have unprotected sex), you may consider using PrEP. YOU NEED TO BE HIV- TO USE PrEP!! usage of PrEP if you've already got HIV is dangerous! HIV may develop resistance to the anti-retroviral drug you intake for PrEP, and it can make treatment more difficult!

PEP = post-exposure prophylaxis. treatment that you get as an emergency if you get at risk suddenly (had unprotected sex with someone whose status you don't know, were sexually assaulted, don't remember whether you used condoms or not, condom slipped/teared, shared syringe with someone, etc). it is an EMERGENCY MEASURE that couldn't be used on a regular basis. if you're exposed at risk on a regular basis, consider using PrEP.

PEP needs to be started NO LATER THAN IN 72 HOURS after exposure. the earlier you start, the higher the effectiveness is.

what does it mean: after exposure, you'll have HOURS to contact with medical provider/center/place where you can get PEP and start treatment. so it's better to research opportunities beforehand. maybe get a supply, if it's legal. but at least you need to find a place where to go in emergency case.

the most risky activities are: usage of same syringe for injections, unprotected sex with contact of genitalia and anal, sexual assault (PEP is recommended). consencual oral sex has very very very low risks (PEP is not recommended). anyways, if you think you have been exposed at risk, you should contact your medical provider or centers that specialize in HIV prophylaxis and treatment. it's better to contact in any doubts.

idk how it works in other countries, but where i live we have (some) HIV/AIDS centers where people can get tested, get PrEP, PEP, and help with access to antiretroviral treatment. places that you can research: HIV/AIDS centers, planned parenthood, reproductive clinics, queer-specialized places, etc.

HIV IS NOT ADDICTS-ONLY DISEASE. HIV IS NOT QUEER-ONLY DISEASE. HIV IS NOT MARGINALIZED PEOPLE-ONLY DISEASE. marginalized groups have their risks because of stigma, ostracization, medical neglect, etc. BUT no one is immune to HIV. A LOT OF, and i mean it, generally privileged people get and transmit HIV because they're sure they will never get it.

there are MORE THAN ONE HIV STRAIN. and you can get more than one HIV strain. so if you're living with HIV and going to have risky activity with someone living with HIV and you've not gotten it one from another, YOU STILL NEED PROTECTION. (if you both don't have undetectable viral load).

UNDETECTABLE = UNTRANSMITTABLE. if someone lives with HIV and has undetectable viral load, they can't transmit HIV to someone else. which means you can have unprotected sex with them (if you all don't have other STDs), they can give birth and don't transmit HIV to the children, etc.

HIV IS NOT THE ONLY STD. there are others, and their transmission differs from HIV transmission. for example, oral sex is risky for gonorrhea. so DON'T NEGLECT CONDOMS!

HIV and STDs are not the worst things in the world. most STDs are either curable or controllable, and you can live fine with them. and anyways, no disease should be stigmatized.

HIV and STDs aren't dirty. thinking that "only dirty shameless people can get HIV/STD" is a) discriminatory; b) factually incorrect - everyone can get STDs; c) prevents people from getting tests and treatment; d) promotes the spread and evolution of STDs.

anti-retroviral therapy may be expensive/inaccessible in lots of places. research the situation where you live and your opportunities in case you'll need HIV-associated treatment (PrEP, PEP, anti-retroviral treatment).

people who know that they have HIV are not the "dangerous" ones. the "dangerous" ones are people who have never gotten tested, who are sure that HIV is not something that they can get, and who ask you to have a sex without a condom.

i'm sorry if i say obvious things here, but i'm not sure about public awareness around HIV and thought that if someone can be surprised that person living with HIV can have children without HIV, then these things should be articulated.

[dilfsisko]

could i pls have a disease?

You get an infection with Australian Bat Lyssavirus! ABLV infection is caused by the aforementioned Australian bat lyssavirus. It is closely related to the virus that causes rabies, so much so that you can use rabies PEP and PREP(post and pre exposure prophylaxis, ie the rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin) for ABLV. As of now, it is the ONLY lyssavirus in Australia (meaning no rabies!) and so far there have only been three reported cases, each ending in fatality.

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

Hi, saw one of your reblogs about masking and wanted to ask something. Sorry if you're not the right person to ask, feel free to ignore, I just haven't got anyone irl that even cares anymore. I've been masking daily this entire time ever since the pandemic first started, but I'm beginning to wonder, when are we going to be able to stop masking? Is there anywhere you can recommend where I can inform myself about this, about what our outlook is like re: COVID and other safety precautions and that type of stuff? The government's position in my country is pretty much just "masks are no longer mandatory" (I wasn't even allowed to get a booster this year, they're apparently not recommended for under 60s here unless you're high risk), and there isn't a culture of masking when sick here, so almost no one does, not even doctors. And it's starting to affect me socially as well, you kind of end up socially excluded/ostracized quite a lot when most places you go you're the only one masking (which I realize is not as bad as death or long COVID but I do have to admit it's getting to me). I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything else to look forward to other than masking indefinitely?

I'm really sorry but unless and until there are widespread, systemic safety measures in place, as far as I know masking is gonna continue to be your best option in terms of protecting yourself and others from covid and its complications :(

There are less effective but still useful options, like the covixyl nasal spray and nasal sanitizers, and iota-carageenan nasal spray and/or cpc mouthwash as post exposure prophylaxis—but those are most effective when paired with masking.

If you do at any point decide to stop masking, altogether or in certain situations, I hope you'll consider using some of those preventative tools. They're dramatically better than no protection at all.

Air cleaners like the corsi-rosenthal box can help if you're in a space where you'd be allowed to set that up. Socializing outside helps a little esp if you're spaced out.

But unless systems get put in place to overhaul ventilation systems and quarantine sick people etc the most effective option I'm aware of as an individual is a well-fitting N95/kf94/kn95 mask with no gapping at the cheeks or anywhere else.

It might be worth finding out who in your area is organizing to try to demand or implement better covid safety measures, and see if you can join them. Try disability advocacy groups—even if they don't have a project like that in place they may either know who does or be willing to help you set one up.

Lastly, I'm just repeating info I've taken in (hopefully accurately) from medical journal articles. I'm just an ordinary person, I'm not an epidemiologist or virologist or medical expert of any kind, so please do your own research as well. Make sure any info you accept as for-sure accurate is from peer reviewed medical studies published by credible scientific journals.